Areas of Research/Interest: Public opinion and institutions in American politics; the formation of political attitudes; LGBT issues and politics

About Me: I'm an occasional contributor to the Monkey Cage blog at the Washington Post. My posts are collected here.
I'm also on Twitter: @Patrick_J_Egan
And I spend a bit too much time making charts and maps about politics and policy.

Understanding the vote on the same-sex marriage ban passed by California's voters in 2008. Co-authored with Kenneth Sherrill. 2009.

The Hard Sell

Court Decisions and Trends in Support for Same-Sex Marriage

Extrapolating from public opinion trends, Nathaniel Persily and I predicted in 2009 that a majority of Americans would support the right to same-sex marriage by 2014. We were too pessimistic. In The Polling Report.

Bloomberg's Limited Win

Good government advocates portrayed the extension of term limits for New York City elected officials in 2008 as a "power
grab" by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In this New York Times op-ed piece,
I argue that the change actually boosted the institutional power of
City Council to act as a democratic check on executive power.

A First-Ever Political Survey of Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals with a Probability-Based Sample

Our report on the first political survey ever to be fielded with a probability-based sample of lesbians, gays and bisexuals (conducted with Murray S. Edelman and Kenneth Sherrill). 2008.